directions to National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

View Larger Map

Testing "embed channel" from youtube

More Birds in my Etsy Shop

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade blueathena76.etsy.com

Top of the World

I'm listening to this song right now, Patty Griffin's "Top of the World." Its so sweet and I just want to put it on repeat here at work! Here's some of the lyrics, but go here to listen to it online:
Myspace Music Discography for Patty Griffin.
The album is "Impossible Dream." Select it from the discography list in the left section of the player.

For writing, read over the lyrics and imagine the scene. What song is being sung by the songbird? Why did she break the songbird's wings? What would you do? What kind of bird? What are others doing, wanting, singing?

"Top Of The World"

There's a whole lot of singing
That's never gonna be heard
Disappearing every day
Without so much as a word
Somehow

I think I broke the wings
Off that little songbird
And she's never gonna fly
To the top of the world now
To the top of the world

....

I wished I'd had known you
Wished I had shown you
All of the things I
Was on the side
But I'd pretend to be sleeping
When you'd come in in the morning
To whisper goodbye
Go work in the rain
I don't know why
Don't know why

Cause everyone's singing
We just wanna be heard
Disappearing every day
Without so much as a word
Somehow?

Gonna grab a hold
Of that little songbird
And take her for a ride
To the top of the world
Right now
To the top of the world

Little Birdies in my Etsy Shop

Prompts from a friend

More writing prompts sent to me by a writer-friend early in December.

From Naming the World:

1. Write about a secret from the perspective of someone with the below statement:
* I never told anyone.
* I did tell one person. God help me.
* I never told anyone, but I’ll tell you.

2. Try writing about something you do every day and take for granted.

3. Starter: "She didn’t want to go, but..."

4. Choose an object that interests you enough to suggest it could be someone’s centering symbol. Why does it carry a metaphysical force?

5. You found a feather on the ground on the way over. Start talking to a person you know about this feather.

6. Pick a character that you hate and find something you love about them.

7. What is your character's obsession?

8. Destroy something you love.

Sentence and Phrase Prompts from Marge Piercy's Hard Loving:

1. I was a rabbit with twigs for bones.

2. Sometimes an old buffalo man... stares from your face."

3. Succulent as a burst apricot

4. A phosphorescent smear

5. Peeling an orange

Lines of Poetry

Its been forever since I last updated the blog here, so here's a few writing prompts in the form of quotes and poetic lines:

"The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing." - Eric Berne, psychiatrist

"I dreamed a knife like a song you can't whistle." - Frank Stanford, "The Singing Knives"

"Which failure cannot cast down nor success make proud." - Robinson Jeffers, "Rock and Hawk"

"...at night he remembers freedom And flies in a dream, the dawns ruin it." - Robinson Jeffers, "Hurt Hawks"

"I'd sooner, except the penalties, kill a man than a hawk." - Robinson Jeffers, "Hurt Hawks"

"We are safe to finish what we have to finish." - Robinson Jeffers, "The Bed By The Window"

"Be angry at the sun for setting." - Robinson Jeffers, "Be Angry at the Sun for Setting"

"Stark violence is still the sire of all the world's values." - Robinson Jeffers, "The Bloody Sire"

"Old violence is not too old to beget new values." - Robinson Jeffers, "The Bloody Sire"

"wore down on their wings" - Robinson Jeffers, "Their Beauty Has More Meaning"

Autumn prompt words

Go with the flow: Choose a prompting word or two from the following list and write about whatever comes to mind for 15-20 minutes without stopping.

Prompting Words List:

Season	pumpkins	fall	autumn	acorns	leaves
leaf	vibrant	red	yellow	orange	green
brown	branches	twigs	aroma	burning leaves	crunch leaves
gourds	pressing leaves	energy	beauty	woods	ghosts
feathers	corn	popcorn	arts and crafts	gifts	forest
apples	orchard	cranberry sauce	potatoes	cornbread	stuffing
green beans	apple pie	cooking	warm	harvest	cinnamon
abundance	thankful	cold	frost	snow	football
snowflakes	raking	leaf piles	campfires	hiking	nature

Lyric Prompts from Ryan Adams

Use these lyrics from songs by Ryan Adams as prompts!

"If I could I'd fold myself away like a card table." -- from "Oh My God, Whatever, Etc."

"But the light of the moon leads the way to the morning." -- from "Oh My God, Whatever, Etc."

"Its a little too late for goodbyes. Good morning. Open your eyes." -- from "Rip Off"

"Treasures that s he misses makes the man." -- from "Bartering Lines"

"You and I together, but only one of us is in love." -- from "Everybody Knows"

"Everything she says, oh, I've heard it all before." -- from "Two Hearts"

"Like a bad idea on a beautiful day." -- from "Two Hearts"

"Three words is all it takes to break your heart in two." -- from "Two Hearts"

"When they smile I get hypnotized and wanna go to bed." -- from "These Girls"

"I've been stranded on the doorstep." -- from "These Girls"

"We are only one push from the nest" - from "The Sun Also Sets"

"Sunset's just my lightbulb burning out." - from "Oh My Sweet Carolina"

"All the sweetest winds, they blow across the South." -- from "Oh My Sweet Carolina"

Bob Dylan Lyrics as Prompts

I've been listening to a lot of Bob Dylan lately and so I decided that this Wednesday's writing prompt will include single lines from various Bob Dylan songs. If there don't work for you, visit bobdylan.com and find a line or two that click with you.

“I saw a white ladder all covered with water” - “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall”

“Spreading their wings 'neath the falling leaves.” - “Changing of the Guards”

“Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you.” - “Changing of the Guards”

“But the next time I looked there was light in the room.” - “Day of the Locusts”

“I been lookin' at my shadow, I been watching the colors up above” - “Dirt Road Blues”

“it's hard labour and cold beans” - “Endless Highway”

“A place where there is no pain of birth.” - “Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking”

“Stand in one place till your feet begin to hurt.” - “Hard Times in New York Town”

“Highway 51 runs right by my baby's door” - “Highway 51”

“The next time you see me comin' you better run" - “Highway 61 Revisited”

All quotes above are from Bob Dylan songs.